"Protest is dead, long live Protest!"

Pledge to read THE END OF PROTEST and let's seed the world with a new protest paradigm!

White, former editor at Adbusters Magazine and "[one of] today's most innovative social activists" (CBC Radio) was a driving force behind the Occupy Movement, which became a global phenomenon. World rights to the book were acquired by Random House of Canada's associate publisher Scott Sellers.

"We're incredibly excited to be partnering with Micah on this book," says Amanda Lewis, associate editor at Knopf Random House Canada who will be working closely with White on the project. "From economic collapse to climate change to the breakdown of society, there has never been a more important time for a book about how we make true revolution. Micah is one of the strongest voices to guide this resurgence, and his vision for a renewed future—combining philosophy, spirituality, critique of social movements, and practical steps for actually making change—is unlike any other I have read."

In THE END OF PROTEST, Micah White offers readers a provocative playbook for harnessing the creativity and optimism of the people in order to transform the existing social order. The paradigms underlying contemporary protest are in a period of crisis. The global forces that impact our ability to determine our collective future—capitalism's collapse, catastrophic climate change and the existential crisis of ultramodernity—stand outside the reach of traditional forms of democratic dissent. Occupy Wall Street was a constructive failure, according to White, that exposed the limits of protest and inaugurated a more potent paradigm of social action based on contagious memes. On the horizon are increasingly sophisticated and dynamic movements that emerge in a bid to break through the political stasis and establish a global people's democracy.

THE END OF PROTEST is a populist cri de coeur that introduces a daring and original new thinker.

102 Comments

There have been protests every night across the nation and worldwide since the Grand Jury in Ferguson failed to indict Darren Wilson for the death of Mike Brown. And, tonight, protests continue in the wake of the Grand Jury on Staten Island that failed to indict the policeman who strangled Eric Garner. Black Lives Matter and protest is a very important way to be heard and to make change.

In the end, we can't have a non racist police force if we don't have a non racist society. We need to work at the deep historical roots of racism and protest shines a light and starts the process.

A good first new law should be that cops are only prosecuted by special prosecutors, not their "brother" prosecutors. As you imply above, it is about more than just the police. It is about a deep rooted racism and all Americans are responsible for eliminating it, as you can not have a non racist police force if you don't have a non racist society. America needs to work at - and face the deep historical roots of racism.

Btw a "chokehold" is prohibited by the NYPD (= Not Your Police Dept. ?!) & Eric Garner said "I cannot breathe" 11 times before he was killed. Never mind their training, at what point does the cops' common sense & basic humanity kick in ? Do they feel immune to censure & is that why they act as they do ?

Staten Island is known for how many NYPD live there. People I know can't help but wonder how many on the Grand Jury had friends or family who are cops. Further, please don't listen to anyone who tells you not to protest or that protest doesn't work or that protest has ended. They are idiotic. Finally, fyi :

In addition, let's not forget what happened to Cecily McMillan. She actually served jail time for trying to defend herself against a violent police officer. Police brutality must end and the links it has to the Military and Prison Industrial Complexes and the 1% and corporations must be exposed.

The contrast between Cecily McMillan and the US' ''Goon Cop Thugs'' like Darren Wilson (Mike Brown's killer), Daniel Pantaleo (Eric Garner's killer) could NOT be more stark and you do right to mention it and the incontrovertible connection to both The Military & Prison Industrial Complexes would be even clearer and evident IF, The US MSM did its job but as it is wholly Corporate Controlled, Co-opted and Corrupted - it won't. Thank goodness for The Inter-web but also exactly why TPTB want to curb, curtail and control it as the U.S. Media Role Is To Pacify the Nation !!!

''The most effectual engines for pacifying a nation are the public papers… A despotic government always keeps a kind of standing army of news-writers who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, invent and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper.'' (Thomas Jefferson)

Sadly, police brutality is just an extension of the overall violence America perpetuates against other nations. It's a micro, macro thing. Everything is connected. As a nation we need to be ruled by love, not fear. This is a big journey to take, but if we don't, I fear for our demise as a civilization.

Mr White, I would suggest that there is little limit to the power of truth, When a "tipping point" of people began to realize that wealth accumulation was a stifling problem for our economy it spread quickly. OWS began to fail as it ran into the inconvenient truth that the GOP work tirelessly to make the rich richer. It was not convenient for those in the park to become embraced in party politics, so the truth was set aside and the movement started to stumble.

Occupy Wall Street is not irrelevant, nor was it a failure. It is still alive and kicking in the minds of the American people. Those who expect watershed change to happen in a matter of months or even a few years are naive. Big change takes time, even decades. Look to history.

Class consciousness is now something embedded in the minds of Americans who were duped for the better part of the 20th century into the 21st century into thinking opportunity was equal in the United States. They are now aware of the inequality, and being aware of injustice is the first step toward making change. The seeds have been planted. They will bloom in due time, be patient.

The Democratic attempt to co-op OWS is irrelevant as is the "OWS was a "failure" meme.

How is it democratic of you at all to try to force people to vote for one of two parties? Seems a bit authoritarian to me. I'm all for voting, but please let me vote for who I want to vote for and that includes abstaining if I don't like any of the options.

One should take a moment and refelct on the huge win those of you who hate the Dems just had lots of evil Dems just lost and now the people you love, at least one can see that at you would rather see inj office than those evil Dems since it is always the Dems you seek to defeat. So congrats to you on your big WIN

If I had my choice between Hillary Clinton for Prez or Freddie Krugger I'd vote for Freddie Krugger.
I don't hate the Democrats, but if they keep on putting up wackos like Hillary who are for everything I am against, why should I vote for them.

If the Dems put up a reasonable candidate, I'd vote Dem.
If somebody like Jim Webb wins the Democratic primary, not only would I vote for him, I might even campaign for him.

BTW I did vote and did campaign for Obama in the first election. My only problem with him is that he turned coat, and became a corporate bootlicker, and warmonger.

congrats again on your win getting them Clinton loving Dems out of office, congrats I see the guys you like better than Clinton are looking at ways to raises taxes on poor folks, you must be very proud

Congrats again on your big win, how good does it feel? I have always been clear, I hate the GOP when they lose I will post my delight, those of you who hate the Dems should do the same so congrats to you.

Don't go saying you hate those you never post about you are just lying your posts tell who you hate.

I am not trying to force people to vote in any way, if anyone is trying to do that it is you, I am congratulating those that hate the Dems like you on your big win in the last election and expressing my dismay that your big win defeating the evil Dems means more wealth inequality for the nation.

What I was referring to was back when OWS was getting a lot of airplay, and that apparently was suiting the DNC at the time. A while latter it appears the OWS message became inconvient, lost some of funding streams and a good amount of media coverage. Obvously the movement has gone "underground."

' Not saying that OWS is/was not a good thing, or that OWS is/was a failure; many good things did happen. I'm just trying to point out a bad reality that some 1%ers were using the movement, and right now we do not have enough organization and resouces to take on the 1% directly as it was percieved by some a couple years back.

oh I don't think it was the DNC that brought in all these Greens it's just that the vast majority of people remember 2000 and the W Bush years and most of us have no interest in the anything the Greens might use to put another Bush in the White House, so if most people see the Greens around they just leave, it'
s got nothing to do with the DNC and a hell of a lot to do with the W Bush years

Paul Krugman has an idea that can solve climate change that flip will likely agree with. Let Obama command the U.S. Department of Treasury to mint a few trillion-dollar platinum coins. Deposit them into the U.S. Treasury's account at the Federal Reserve and draw currency as needed for greening energy production and consumption worldwide. Voila! The U.S. has become a few trillion dollars richer and started the entire world to solve the climate torture.

Do you all believe? In the world of make-beliefs, EVERYTHING is possible!

You are absolutely correct! The U.S. Treasury is never required by any law to withdraw its trillion-dollar platinum coins from the Federal Reserve. It is just using the Federal Reserve to exchange coins for easier to transport currency. There is no interest to be collected on the monetary amount embodied by the coins.

This can really work! Paul Krugman deserves yet another Nobel Prize. Now the only problem left is to work on the timid mind of Obama whose mother "talked in darkness" and his left hand "shook holding the executive pen."

To my dismay, the Federal Reserve preempted accepting the trillion-dollar platinum coins. We should start a coinage membership club. All members presenting with the validated membership card to another member shall have their coins valued at 100 times their U.S. currency value. This will establish debt-free coinage being used in renormalized fashion to pull us out of debt-based currency.

no it can't, too late, too bad really, damn shame about Nader not being able to tell the difference I'm pretty his support would have made the difference, oh well not much we can do now, lots of folks are going to die

Don't worry. Be happy. Lots of folks are going to die anyway due to the unprecedented global population and comprehensive focus on growth. Under "Two Countries. One Party." Nader would have been irrelevant. China will continue to choke on coal smoke and lead the world.

careful your con is showing, all worried about comprehensive growth look at you, the point is stuff matters, sure the planet as far as climate change goes had a shot in 2000 when the most concerned person to ever have a shot at doing something had the best shot ever of being able to do it but Nader thought it was more important for a lot of people to hear his bullshit about how money runs politics so yeah that does hurt a bit seeing how it means the end of life as we know it and not really a damn thing can be done about it now

you miss the part about having a legit chance at the win, who do think it is? W Bush? yeah he sounds like your kind of guy, well congrats again on your win defeating that GATT and NAFTA party, you must be very happy

It is never too late until it is. Life as we know it may end but so what? Life as a child as I knew it ended. It is now just new life as I never knew it. Nader did not make a difference because China and India were hell bent on developing in the same way as the West did by polluting the environment. They made a major mistake due to their sheer numbers of people in the Billions.

Without China and India having joined the climate effort, very little difference would have been made.

Well I guess drilling in Alaska and the Keystone pipeline just don't matter in a world where there is no difference in Al Gore and W Bush when it comes to climate change, it's just that how far from reality does one have to be to believe in the path you propose?

You don't care about anything but trying to make the Greens stronger you don't give a crap about what actually happens you just want your damn ego fed.

Alaska has been drilled and pumped out (to near exhaustion) for many decades already so the picking has become thin. New oil and gas will cost more to retrieve due to the extremely remote near-arctic conditions. Keystone pipeline's construction or not mattered but it is diminished much in importance. Plunging oil prices and lower-48-continental fracked oil and gas will block much of the near-arctic oil and gas. Scaling back of near-arctic oil and gas explorations and operations is imminent.

Oil and gas release less CO2 per unit of heat released than coal so coal is enemy number one, especially the low-grade coal with much of other toxic pollutants (SO2, Hg, As, Pb, Cd, ...).

I care about what will happen because my loved ones matter but to harp on what has already gone into the atmosphere and oceans is rather useless by now. Nader's entering the 2000 Presidential Race is spilt milk. Going with thorium-based nuclear energy may be one way out of the climate torture. Another way is plasma cusp confinement already demonstrated to be feasible. The most efficient way is through energy usage's "reduce, reuse, recycle" through better mindsets and knowledge worldwide.

None of these will matter much if China and India do not care. I do not see the U.S starting OccupyChina and OccupyIndia. Let them decide if they want to choke. Don't worry. Be happy. The trump cards are NOT in our hands. The EU has tried with great efforts and costs to mitigate the climate torture but its results have been greatly overwhelmed by new coal-burning power plants which came and are coming online and will be operating for MANY decades.

Under "Two countries. One party." the evil Dems are actually parts of the GOP, the party of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. It is not I finding new ways to tear down evil Dems. It is equal opportunity for all who are willing to pay the admission fee - Equality for All, very American style.

There is still nearly half of the Senate being damn Dems so its influence is largely intact. The number one mistress of all Senators is their constituents. The parties are secondary at best. They don't know how to govern so hastening the circular-time effect of the material-interest density of the electorate fixes the system faster.

the confusing of real wealth and it's symbol (money) is mind boggling. the lack of understanding of basic investment is mind boggling. we put in a new gas boiler in our house - converted from oil. cost $6400 - it should save us $2500 or more each year on heat and hopefully help the planet. good investment no? now how about doing that across the nation in all different ways - smart grid - renewable energy - energy conservation. need i go on - the lack of thought is depressing

The confusion is the linchpin for central bank operations so I must propagate it for the benefit of all, in honor of Confucius.

Detroit experienced decrease of real wealth. China or India is the richest country in the world according to raw labor. The U.S. is the richest country in the world according to raw labor times technological ability. According to per capita wealth, the U.S. is somewhere near the top but definitely Not the richest. It is unique as the only very populous (3rd) country with a pretty high per capita wealth. The very unequal distribution of this wealth was a centuries-old curse on the U.S. that our forebears had never dispelled well. Prejudice + statistics + fears + guns + arrogance = bang! bang! bang! creating the new black deaths.

We the People have Enemies Within.They will do absolutely ANYTHING to stop Americans from Waking Up& Uniting,because if Americans wake up and Unite they lose all and May Die.Massive Psyops & Cointelpro is being deployed RIGHT NOW.

Inequality of wealth and Injustice before the Law have the identical fountainhead of human misery. The enemies without are powered by the enemies within. Economics should really use projective coordinates for its measurements. People whose Consciousness has gone to Infinity and Beyond return on the opposite side. Operating around the Infinity discontinuity/(projective)continuity accumulates energy of cognitive dissonance leading to paradigm shift.

The U.S. populace should realize by now that it is Not the "trailer trash," Nor is it the "welfare queen" that is the real source of the problem.

When the legislators and executives sell out to Avarice, no lower class person is immune, no matter what their political conviction or skin color is. The working class people will All become "trailer trash" if lucky, "welfare queen" if not so lucky, and homeless if all available work has gone overseas. Ross Perot said of NAFTA,"I hear a giant sucking sound." He was correct. The jobs left the U.S. as he had predicted. When the tide goes out, all boats sink lower or are beached unless their passengers are prescient and take countermeasures. Forget about the color painted on the boats, red or blue, white or black. All options are on the table.

I hate seeing Americas spreading hate about other Americans.I hate to see Americans believing only Black people,Arabs and people from the Southern American countries can be the Target of Oppression because White People are Exempt.

Whites are Not exempt from being oppressed. Whites do enjoy a privilege of not being suspected of wrongdoings or violence as reflexively as the other races. There is the advantage of receding into the background and not carrying the racial burden (when Obama fails, it's the failure of the "black" President but when Adam Lanza or James Holmes mass-murdered people, it's rarely mentioned that they are whites).

You speak the Truth & Don't I Know It.It's becoming less&less&less about Race.Still,I dislike the practical reality of White Privilege.For many of us it don't stretch very far,but I feel that on more than one occasion I received preferential treatment that saved my life(probably)which would not have been available to a Black Person.

Paradigm Shift may well be Imminent.A rare&unpredictable state of affairs.Hope we all inhabit a Safe Place if/when History makes that Dialectical Leap.All of this is not helping my already Perpetually Nervous stomach.Ouch.

I operate around Infinity and Beyond. Energy and insights emanate from the Infinity discontinuity and projective continuity.

Your gas conversion is a good investment but you could be locking yourself into the gas line monopoly. If fracked gas wells are exhausted quickly, you could see high gas prices without option for a different gas supplier.

and do you heat your house with infinity or the beyond? now how about responding to my point about borrowing from ourselves to make good investments for our future? we will eventually run out of all fossil fuels but that looks like well down the road. so i have some land and plenty of trees - i guess i will need a wood stove

I believe Both. It is not like there is a requisite discontinuity between Infinity and Beyond. The Soviet Union tried nuclear bombs to enhance oil recovery. Our oil patch discovered doing that without using nuclear bombs. The cheap natural gas you claim for your good investment was very likely fracked because the U.S. had severe shortage of natural gas decades ago. The gas industry before that time had claimed decades of gas reserves which did not materialize.

I do not look at trees as fuel. They ease up both my heating and cooling bills through their placements to reduce winds and provide shades. One-time effort and many decades of payoffs suit me just fine. Wood stoves are not cleanly burning and I like that cute squirrel and the blue jays feeling comfortable and safe (their opinions, not mine).

This seems to be a godsend for resolving the "nuclear bomb problem" of Iran. Propose that Iran is to use thorium instead of uranium and plutonium. If Iran accepts it, much of the world will probably believe that Iran is not going for building nuclear bombs. If Iran rejects it, it will definitely say something about Iran's intention.

Sad to say - but - likely it's best likelihood of 1st being used would be for the MIC - just think how small a reactor would be to power an Air-Craft Carrier or a Submarine or even escort Destroyers and cutters and such.

Yep - that is how sick this world is - that energy progress would be used for the military before it would be used to create a peaceful world wide society.

It is not just government which needs to be cleaned up but lots of things happen in spite of the government crap. We should start with neighborhood battery backup systems to add resiliency to our electrical grid. It will protect against cyberattacks on our power grid. It also provides backup baseload storage for buffering renewable energies.

Certain better cleaner cheaper technologies are blocked by the access to believers who have capital and the determination. A feasibility demonstration is often not enough. There is the hurdle of beating competing technologies, some subsidized heavily by the government or dominant corporations. Then there are validation, reproducibility, reliability, amenability for manufacture, etc. There must be champions to shepard the technology. It comes down to trust and faith as always. Tangibles originate from the intangibles being acted upon.

It also helps (IMO) - if - 2/3 of the people who have opted out (who very well may be disgusted by the crap that is going on and the cream that is pushed under) - could re-engage to promote such clean technologies - starting with supporting actions - that would give the people back their voice - like Move To Amend - and - One Subject At A Time Legislation - at the same time removing roadblocks who advertize themselves as such (like members of ALEC) from office.

MIC gets energy progress first because we live in a world of apparent (but not really) scarcity and we act like tribal baboon troops. It is still okay because military technologies can be adapted for civilian usages, too. Sputnik and ICBMs eventually let us have weather satellites so I shan't get wet tomorrow. Arpanet led to the internet as a peace dividend. GPS for guiding missiles and munitions guides us in our cars, boats, and aeroplanes.

Not all is lost if the MIC gets the first crack at new technologies. I worry about Japan because it seems to be more culturally insular and conformist than other developed countries so it may not know about thorium reactor technology or have the audacity to try it first.

Look - the people who count - as decision makers - as policy enactors - For domestic issues as well as foreign issues - have the access to the cleanest technologies available - to date - and these technologies are not being used. Many technologies released to the public have been developed by the pursuit of space - Headed By the works and achievements of NASA.

But there is technology that is so much better safer healthier cheaper than technologies in use that are the mainstream of life around the world. Why? - Why is this better cleaner cheaper peaceful technology not in wide spread use?

Oh my Gosh, you have destroyed jobs now and future in the oil patch and likely reduced future GDP by $2500 or more every year. Shame on you. It is people like you who made the U.S. number 2 in economy, behind China. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

more horseshit - respond to the point. you cannot support your argument with any rational thought so you throw shit at the wall. you probably think like obama and all the other right wing nut jobs that it is a good thing to "drill baby drill" - sure burn up all that fossil fuel faster. great get it out of the ground as fast as we can and then burn it! don't use saudi oil and leave ours in the ground like any sane person would do - for the future when we will really need it - no bad idea - my god you are the worst kind of occupier. you cannot admit to the stupidity of your position so you just spout nonsense. sad sack!

The U.S. got to its high GDP by building bridges out of wood that rots fast, paving highways with cheap materials which crumble in a few years, spreading cheap salt for road de-icing, etc. We create jobs by rebuilding bridges in a few years, patching more potholes, replacing our rusted mufflers, having to buy new cars because their undercarriages have been rusted out by the salt. That was the way to become number one.

China learnt this well from the U.S. with its shoddy products. It was no surprise that the strategy worked again as expected.

Healthcare expenses account for the largest share of GDP. 17% and counting the last time I checked. It's a self fattening industry. For example, my parents have incurred over $100,000 in expenses just to deal with drug-related side-effects. The industry is known to under-test and over-price most of it's pharmaceuticals, they knowingly prescribe excessive medical testing, and often diagnose new 'conditions' to explain drug-related side-effects.

first of all your history is incorrect - we got our high gdp by building the erie cannel and railroads and interstate highways - and cars and trains and actual things that people need and want. but maybe you forgot the question - it was about borrowing and inflation. you have no argument do you - well at least your smart enough to know it - maybe. this is what i said - RESPOND TO IT! - and please not with your usual nonsensical horseshit - "the confusing of real wealth and it's symbol (money) is mind boggling. the lack of understanding of basic investment is mind boggling. we put in a new gas boiler in our house - converted from oil. cost $6400 - it should save us $2500 or more each year on heat and hopefully help the planet. good investment no? now how about doing that across the nation in all different ways - smart grid - renewable energy - energy conservation. need i go on - the lack of thought is depressing

The real wealth is the ability to discern reality, not just what it is but what it was and what it can be. All real wealth is borrowed from the Infinity and Beyond. Inflation is a delusion of Man sprouted from Avarice.

I think your list is great but the order may be reversed for faster payoffs and better security: energy conservation first, renewable energy next, and smart grid last if ever. Strictly speaking, I am not "Green" but I do like that other intangible "green" from the Infinity and Beyond. Nothing is the mother of ANYTHING! Take away any specific thing and you have nothing. Then put ANYTHING back there and it never ceased to amaze children of the magic of transformation.

You are correct I have the list backwards. I was thinking that you are lost and stupid but it definitely should be stupid and lost. Oh and just one more. Complete waste of time. Like too many sad souls here

According to Justine, we sad souls here need closure and she signed up for supporting that. Time does not exist anyway so there was never any waste and there will never be any. Parametrization is arbitrary to a great extent.

ah, zen master infinity man - there is no time - all is illusion. and you are stupid. what a coward - your idiotic theories of inflation and the evil fed can't stand up to a logical argument so what to do. go cosmic illusion on an ows site. sure there is no time - only now - so what the fuck are we all doing. or why would you care about debt and the fed. ha - better use one of your other ids since from now on when you comment i will have to point out to you that time doesn't exist so wtf

Reality is Not illusion. Illusion matters because it kills and destroys, going against the Will and the Word. Our Consciousness flicks from now to now so you got it correct that there is only now. My now may not be your now, though.

The debt and the fed foster illusions that matter. In fact, Man's delusional creation of other debts beyond "The debt" will have drastic worldwide consequences. Let my loved ones listen. I smell gasoline in our house and we are cooking!

Yay! 321,000 new jobs were created in November in the U.S. The fourth job needed to make ends meet is very real. Women like Nancy Pelosi are superior to men like Bill Clinton who only got to the third job to make ends meet.

Yep uniquely american ...how many hours needed now per week to make rent? 150?... phtt bet they just cut full time and hired several part time openings. Employers can employ you without inhaling or providing bennies. Or the Lewinsky factor...jobs that bring your finances to their knees and splooge all over you while declaring the benefits of nafta...?

Nancy Pelosi (and her constituents) was absolutely instrumental in building the momentum behind the ACA to turn it into law. ACA exempts employers from the requirement to provide health insurance benefits to part time job workers. Splitting full time jobs into multiple part time jobs cuts health insurance benefit costs. Yep, Nancy Pelosi was indeed effective in helping to create more part time jobs, especially that fourth one as the Hollywood nose job to make the U.S. look good.

TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2014 /CNW/ - Alfred A. Knopf Canada is pleased to announce that it will publish Micah White's new book THE END OF PROTEST in Spring, 2016.

White, former editor at Adbusters Magazine and "[one of] today's most innovative social activists" (CBC Radio) was the driving force behind the Occupy Movement, which became a global phenomenon. World rights to the book were acquired by Random House of Canada's associate publisher Scott Sellers.

"We're incredibly excited to be partnering with Micah on this book," says Amanda Lewis, associate editor at Knopf Random House Canada who will be working closely with White on the project. "From economic collapse to climate change to the breakdown of society, there has never been a more important time for a book about how we make true revolution. Micah is one of the strongest voices to guide this resurgence, and his vision for a renewed future—combining philosophy, spirituality, critique of social movements, and practical steps for actually making change—is unlike any other I have read."

In THE END OF PROTEST, Micah White offers readers a provocative playbook for harnessing the creativity and optimism of the people in order to transform the existing social order. The paradigms underlying contemporary protest are in a period of crisis. The global forces that impact our ability to determine our collective future—capitalism's collapse, catastrophic climate change and the existential crisis of ultramodernity—stand outside the reach of traditional forms of democratic dissent. Occupy Wall Street was a constructive failure, according to White, that exposed the limits of protest and inaugurated a more potent paradigm of social action based on contagious memes. On the horizon are increasingly sophisticated and dynamic movements that emerge in a bid to break through the political stasis and establish a global people's democracy.

THE END OF PROTEST is a populist cri du couer that introduces a daring and original new thinker.